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  • Thread starter Thread starter Doug B.
  • Start date Start date
D

Doug B.

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I did a quick search and didn't see a thread relating directly to this subject, but I'd like to hear what has worked for others and/or ideas.

I live in an urban area, and want to commute as much as possible starting in spring. I have an 85 GS550L, pretty much bone stock. I have been looking at the knight riderz LED that flashes for 6 seconds on braking, or maybe 2 of them, mounted on the license plate frame.. Also a headlight modulator.

In addition to those things, what might I do to increase my visibility especially but not exclusively to the rear?

I have considered a lighting kit, it isn't a mod that speaks to me personally but I've seen bikes with them and they make them pop in low light situations..

I don't want to make it uglier than it is, I just want a good chance of being seen.

I rode bicycles for a long time, and I know flashing LEDs can catch your eye from a good distance.

I figured hanging lights, reflective materials, and that sort of thing fit better in appearance than electrical..
 
A headlight modulator is good (I have one on most of our bikes), flashing brake lights are good (again, on most of our bikes), but you can't rely on them to do your job for you.
YOUR job is to keep alert to what's happening around you.

Had to look up your "Knight Riderz" to see what it was. Personally, I would stay away from anything that goes side-to-side like that. Don't really care for any wig-wag brake modulators, either, they are too confusing.

Good units will cost money, but there are some more-affordable alternatives, did you have a budget in mind?

.
 
They won't all see you anyway, might as well go stealth. They can't hit what they can't see.
 
The circled item is removed.
images
Then, using a Vetter Windjammer fairing mount, the Locomotive Cow Guard is affixed to the motorcycle frame. Then you take this stuff:
LED-Rope-Light-0408.jpg

and weave it in between and around the giant iron bars on the guard. Can be secured with three bond or tied on with the wires from your burned up stator.
Its a weekend job. Safe on the way to work Monday.:eek:
 
In the old days they used a bloke with a red flag and that seemed to work really well.
 
Your best defense against cagers is a good offense. Drive like you are invisible an assume they are all out to get you. I used to commute but there are just too many a-holes driving and texting to make it worth my while. I'd rather drive my truck and arrive in one piece.
 
I ride with a beacon on my helmet. But, even that won't save you from a texting driver.
 
As mentioned above, all of these guys with flashing lights, headlight modulators, racks of leds, loud pipes, funny yellow jackets, reflective helmets all have other vehicles pull out in front of them, turn left in front of them, hit them in the rear, etc.

Most drivers are in their own little worlds, in their mini-fiefdoms, listening to music, texting, watching dvds, doing their hair, applying makeup and reading the paper.
(I have seen all of the above, and more.)

Even if they do see you, they really don't care. I have had just as many people pull out in front of me driving a roll-back, as they do if I'm on one of the bikes.
I just pretend I'm invisible, so far I'm still alive (sort of, anyway).
 
I have great horns on the bikes, but since people don't pay any attention to them, I just swerve.

Friends that work in emergency services, including police and fire have told me that their sirens don't seem to help that much, either. People claim not to have heard train horns!
(You can get a train horn, but they are kinda big for a bike).
 
Since there seem to be plenty of smartass answers already, I'll just mention that I installed a pair of BikeVis Bullet LEDs on Turd II after Turd I's untimely demise thanks to a tricky triple-fake from an unlicensed left-turning cager.

http://www.bikevis.com/motorcycle-led-running-lights.html

A nice review:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/bikevis-bullets-v2/

So far, so good, but you can't count on anything, really. I think they help, and they can't hurt.


My V-Strom has two headlights, so I replaced the left headlight bulb with a yellow one. The odd white/yellow combination makes a noticeable difference in the number of bonehead moves I experience.

I used one of these Nokya yellow bulbs. The other side has a white bulb -- I forget which one:
http://www.buyheadlightbulbs.com/Nokya-Hyper-Yellow-H4-Headlight-Bulbs-p/nok7613.htm



I'm also a fan of white or bright/fluorescent helmets and high-visibility riding gear.
 
Have to agree with everyone who posted to assume they don't see you.

I don't have a headlight modulator so I ride with my high beam on during the day, It makes a huge difference though I think a modulator would be the best way to go.

Do you have a sissy bar?

A extra brake light mounted behind the cushion would be a good mod, and if the bars frame is hollow you know where to conceal the wires.

I end up doing a lot of night riding and a future investment will be a light bar though I may need to install a wind mill to run it.
 
I wear a bright orange highly reflective vest and have a set of Fiamm Freeway Blaster horns. I have startled some idiot cagers with the horns when it was apparent they were about to pull a bonehead move. And I am still highly aware that I am invisible when I ride and that everyone else is out to kill me.
 
I did LED blinkers and taillights, which definitely light up better than the old incandescent bulbs. Blacking out all my chrome probably didn't help matters, though.
I'm of the mind that any which way you cut it, cagers are either going to see you, or they're not, regardless of how much attention-grabbing doohickery you put on your bike. People are in too much of a hurry to get everywhere, and a quick glance is pretty much all anyone does anymore. If people don't see you, it's because they didn't take the time to actually look, not because your bike is "hard to see".
 
I make no assumptions that anyone will see me, or look for me, but if every once in a while a driver sees me a little sooner, my journeys will benefit from what is really a pretty minor investment in some good lighting. The stock stuff is there and intact, but it's not as eye catching as super bright LEDs can be.

I like the bullet bikevis lights linked by bwringer, and the lights I talked about are available without the sweeping light, I just used that name because it comes up easy in google :) http://www.customdynamics.com/knight_rider_nonsequential_led_video.htm <- this is the specific one I was considering using.

I think they are small enough and have a low enough power requirement that I can probably add a pair of strips above and below the license plate, and a set of 4 bikevis pods, white in front, red in back. I am curious about the modulator for those, I'll read that review in a minute.

I was taught to always assume the other driver will do the absolute worst possible thing at the worst possible time and to always leave myself a way out.. I was lucky and had my own personal motorcycle safety instructor for many years, before there was such a thing available to everyone.. 27 mostly safe years and looking forward to many more :)

I hadn't thought about upgrading the horns, but thats a good idea too..
 
Cars pull out in front of trucks, bright orange busses with lights all over them and even trains. Best just to stay invisible and ride accordingly.
 
Wow, those are some serious horns, wonder how much they affect mileage? lol.

I understand the decision to stay stealth, but I think a few lights are worthwhile.. I'll still operate on the assumption no one sees me.
 
+lots on the ride like everyone else is blind.
FWIW i did read about a study done somewhere that a key factor is the single front light on most bikes. It showed that ignoramarses were more likely to pick up on twin headlights than single. Something to do with two lights being easier gauge its distance away from the observer. Makes sense.
 
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